Regular rulemaking procedures would cause an imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare.

Justification:On 08/02/2017, Molina Healthcare of Utah (Molina) announced it would no longer offer qualified health plans on the individual Federal Exchange as of 01/01/2018; this action leaves only two insurers on the Federal Exchange for 2018.It is estimated that Molina has about 40% of the enrollees who purchased their coverage on the Federal Exchange.In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enacted an alternate enrollment hierarchy for enrollees whose plans will not be made available in the following plan year, but it also provides for a state-directed hierarchy.The Department of Insurance (Department) did not have a need to define such a hierarchy until the announcement was made by Molina in August.Once the Department was able to determine that the federal hierarchy was at odds with Utah's defined terms for network plans, the Department worked quickly to identify what type of hierarchy could be established.During this shortened process, the Department met with various stakeholders and carefully considered the process that would provide the greatest consumer protection, while preserving market competition.Utah must define the state hierarchy no later than 09/01/2017.However, the Department did not receive answers to all of the questions posed to HHS until 08/24/2017.Failure to enact a state hierarchy will further erode Utah's ability to regulate Utah's insurance markets, disrupt the core of private market competition, and cause imminent peril to the public's ability to address their own healthcare needs.The emergency rule must be made in order to meet the 09/01/2017 deadline.